Encouraging people to see the good in their town is one of the main thrusts of Great Yarmouth’s new FM radio station.

The launch of Harbour Radio at Great Yarmouth. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY

An aerial mast has been fitted to Harbour Radio’s hub at 137 King Street, Great Yarmouth, enabling it to broadcast to people’s homes, workplaces, and vehicles rather than exclusively online.

For the last five days it has been playing wall-to-wall music without the input of presenters to enable technical tweaks and adjustments to take place.

But from tomorrow listeners can tune in to FM 107.4 for a mix of local programming including news, entertainment and debate reaching audiences from Hemsby in the north, Corton in the south, and out to Acle.

Station director Nevv Moore, 55, said it had been a long time coming.

Over the years its supporters had grappled with a range of setbacks including Brexit which raised issues around international broadcasting because the output could be heard in Belgium.

But thanks to the 102 volunteers from builders to electricians, administrators to technical support the station was ready to play music and talk to local people over the new frequency.

Mr Moore, said the milestone would be marked in the traditional way with a cake and ribbon cutting attended by the mayor and a range of civic dignitaries and councillors at 11am on Wednesday.

He said: “We are public focused. We are not here to challenge any other outlets. We are just here to give people that voice. When I came to this town in 1989 I thought it was the most fabulous place.

“I had lived in Ipswich and London and it felt really fresh. You have to love your town and you have to have been somewhere else to love it.

“It is a beautiful place to live and we do not appreciate it enough.

“The station is hopefully going to bring that to people’s attention.”

It is three years since the station first broadcast and around 18 months since Ofcom granted the five year licence.

Mr Moore said he was keen to develop the station’s well-being and healthy-living offer as well as to give a platform to new talent.

The volunteer workforce was also an important strand of the station’s ethos helping a range of people with mental health and physical difficulties to get involved and achieve.